Day 4 - Back on the mainland

Friday 3^rd June

We got up early and had our showers at Wilma's house. After sorting out Morag and stowing everything away we made our way back across the island for the ferry. We took the Ross Road, a beautiful and remote single track road, to Lamlash. We stopped for a walk and a sandwich between Lamlash and Brodick at a forestry car park with magnificent views of Goat Fell.

Goat Fell

The ferry brought us over to Ardrossan and we made our way to the CL near Beith; a small but friendly site with quite good amenities. We ate dinner in the continuing beautiful sunshine with G&Ts and white wine.

Day 3 - on Arran

Thursday 2^nd June

We breakfasted on crumpets then, while Lyn and Wilma walked the dogs, I set off for a walk to King's cave. The weather was glorious sunshine but with a cool breeze, ideal for walking. The walk was a total of 4.9 miles and I got back in plenty of time for us to have lunch at the nearby hotel. Wilma treated us!

Breakfast

The walk to King's Cave

King's Cave

Rock pillars between King's Cave and Blackwaterfoot

We had a generally relaxing afternoon watching the seals on the rocks nearby. Wilma's friends, John and Jill, joined us for a simple buffet tea. They were good company. The day finished with another beautiful sunset.

Seals on the rocks

Day 2 of our Scotland trip - on to Arran

Wednesday 1^st June

After a good night's sleep and a quick breakfast we set off on our way to Ardrossan for the ferry to Arran. We stopped for a small amount of shopping at Morrison's near Stevenston. We were very early for the ferry so we stopped in Saltcoats and took Button for a walk along the beach. Then, after a cup of tea and some cake, we found another walk up to the Saltcoats Castle ruins.

Saltcoats, with Arran in the background

I took several photos as we waited at the ferry port. We boarded on time and had our lunch in the ferry restaurant. The drive to Blackwaterfoot from Brodick over the String was picturesque but quite slow as we were stuck behind a heavily laden lorry.

The Arran ferry arriving in Ardrossan

Approaching Arran

Wilma greeted us at the grassy verge by the beach. Lyn and Wilma had their usual blether. Wilma joined us for a cheese tea and we were able to sit outside to watch the sunset until the midges chased us inside.

Morag, with Button guarding her, at Blackwaterfoot

Arran Sunset

Morag's Scottish Trip - Day 1

Tuesday 31^st May

We started out at 10.15 after completing packing Morag for our three week tour of Scotland. Apart from some traffic hold-ups at roadworks the journey was quite smooth. We stopped at Charnock Richard for a cup of tea and again at Tebay for our lunch. Button settled well after looking a bit disgruntled for the first few dozen miles. We reached the picnic area at Enterkinfoot at about 4.45. Button had her evening walk along a footpath through woods beside the river Nith. The picnic area is wonderfully situated and has plenty of room for us to “wild Camp” overnight. The weather had been perfect all day so, after a G&T and a convenience meal we settled down for the night.

Morag at Enterkinfoot

Lyn and Button walking in Nithdale

Minsmere

Friday 22nd April

We left the Vulcan Arms early, arriving at Minsmere just after 8am. It was overcast and very cold but we saw over 50 species of bird during the day. We had to retire to the RSPB cafe a few times to warm up though! We left at 3.30pm to return to Joy and David's house.

A rather bleak view from one of the hides

Greylag Goose

Avocets

Grey Squirrel from the tea room

Greater Spotted Woodpecker from the tea room

Marsh Harrier hunting over the reeds

Little Egret

Avocets feeding and displaying

Saturday 23rd April

We packed up Morag and followed Joy and David to Bentwaters air base for an hour at a fun agility group. The weather was interesting - hail rain and sunshine alternately!

We said our goodbyes and left Joy and David shortly after midday to make our way home. We had a couple of stops, first at Anglesey Abbey for lunch and secondly  near the Welford arm of the GUC to give Button a walk. We arrived home a little after 6pm.

Ipswich to Sizewell

Thursday 21st April

We left Dave and Joy to drive a few miles to see some other friends, Trish and Martyn. Like Joy and David we met them when we lived in France but they have now moved back to England. We had lunch at the Punch Bowl in Battisford. We were delighted to find that the chef at the Punch Bowl is none other than Emanuel, the son of other friends in France, Denise and Louis. I took the wedding photos when Emanuel and Agata got married in Lamalou-les-Bains!

We left Trish and Martyn after lunch to drive to Sizewell where we had booked a pitch at a CL next to the Vulcan Arms pub ready for our trip to Minsmere the following day. The view was nothing to write home about but the pub was friendly with good food for our evening meal.

The view of Sizewell from the Vulcan Arms

Short Break in Suffolk

Tuesday 19th April

We packed Morag up ready for our trip to see our friends Joy and David in Ipswich. I had to change the gas bottle as it had run out. We started out at 11am in bright weather. Our lunch stop was in a lay-by near Welford in Leicestershire. We continued the rest of the way along the A14, NOT my favourite road! We arrived with Joy and David at about 4.30pm and paked up next to their house. We would be staying in their home for the next few days.

Wednesday 20th April

After taking the dogs for a long, early walk we went with Dave and Joy to the Wilford Bridge Inn for lunch. After lunch we had a short walk along the Deben estuary and a very brief visit to Sutton Hoo. We will pay another visit to Sutton Hoo on a future trip as it is an extensive site that welcomes dogs on leads.

The Deben estuary and Wilford Bridge

The Sutton Hoo Helmet (replica in the exhibition hall)